Oakland County's gun sales on uptick after Connecticut shooting

That's the reason for the uptick in gun sales, in the view of Paul Phillips, owner of White's Gun Shop in Waterford Township.

Since the school shooting in Connecticut on Dec. 14 that left 26 people dead and reignited a national discussion about assault weapons, there has seemed to be madness concerning buying guns and ammunition, Phillips said.

"Today I had 40 or 50 phone calls; people were looking for ammunition, AKs, ARs ... people are afraid of getting things taken away from them," Phillips said.

Fear of litigation banning assault weapons across the nation has led to an increase in gun sales in Oakland County -- as evidenced at Phillips' shop, which immediately sold out of the dozen or so he said he had.

Since then, "I've said no about 500 times," he added, saying he's had several calls since the shooting.

In the wake of December's tragic mass shooting, some wondered if gun sales have gone up -- especially assault rifle sales.

While such specific statistics are difficult to track, John Fournier, general manager of Great Lakes Sporting Arms in Walled Lake, said it seems like almost everyone has been selling out of rifles that have the look of the .223-caliber Bushmaster that was found in shooter Adam Lanza's vehicle that day.

"We had a dramatic increase in the number of inquiries about that type of gun, even though we specialize in high-end skeet, sporting clay and shotguns," Fournier said.

The week after the shootings, Great Lakes' phones were ringing off the hook, he said.

"I had trouble getting through to the FBI for background checks ... there was a backup," Fournier added.

"We've seen a continual growth through the years," Smith said. "Although it seems like a lot, it's been a steady increase."

Part of the increase is likely because of the publicity of mass shootings such as the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy, the movie theater mass shooting in Aurora, Colo., and as far back as the school shootings at Columbine.